Friday Food: unsweetened drinks

One of the things I hear from Kilter friends and fans is that it is hard to give up the habit of sugar in their chai and coffee. My suggestion is to completely stop drinking chai and filter coffee while you are reducing your sugar intake. Drinking coffee or chai without sugar can be downright unpleasant. Don’t put yourself through that.

You might think the best answer is to switch sugar for one of the sugar substitutes. Sugar substitutes can be unwise if you are trying to break a sugar habit. Though stevia and sugar alcohols won’t spike your blood sugar, the brain responds to them in the same way it to does to sugar, leading you down the path towards a sugar substitute addiction. (Watch for more on that later this month.)

Get into a different habit for your daily caffeine or relaxation. After a while, when your taste buds have shifted to a higher sugar sensitivity, you might find that you prefer the taste of unsweetened chai and filter coffee. Changing up your drink choices means you won’t make comparisons to what you’re used to.

Here are five completely unsweetened beverages that you might enjoy instead. Make them to sip at home or carry them when you go to work.

1. Lemon tea. Whether you make yours with regular tea and a squeeze of fresh lemon or you choose a flavoured teabag, lemon tea is a tangy way to get your caffeine fix. If lemon’s not your thing, try ginger tea.
2. Green tea. It has less caffeine than black tea. Its delicate, grassy flavor needs no sweetening.
3. Rooibos tea. From South Africa, this naturally sweet red tea is caffeine free. It’s not easy to find in India, but can be purchased online.
4. Cold brew coffee. The slow, room-temperature decoction makes cold brew coffee taste smooth and chocolatey instead of bitter so you won’t need sugar to sweeten it. It can be served cold or hot.
5. Sparkling water. This is a versatile substitute for sweetened sodas. Drink it plain or flavour it with a slice of citrus, a handful of mint, or a drop of food grade essential oil.

Caffeine levels

Switching away from sugar-tempered, strong, bitter tea and coffee can leave you with a headache because of caffeine levels, so be aware: coffee has 110 mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup; Assam tea has about 86 mg; green tea 59 mg. This varies as brewing your tea longer extracts more caffeine. Adjust to your brewing time or the quantity of your drink to your desired level of jitters.

Tea and Caffeine Content (Green Tea, Black Tea, White Tea...)

It’s important to take small steps towards a bigger goal. Make it a fun adventure to find a new drink that you like; maybe you’ll have some new experiences along the way. Share your favorite unsweetened drink with the #kilter channel on Friends of HasGeek Slack or on our Kilter WhatsApp group.

Kilter is HasGeek’s space for reasoned debate on how your body actually works, and how you can find your own path to good health via better nutrition, fitness and habits. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Slack.